Ice Storm: a period of freezing rain that
leaves everything that this freezing rain comes into contact with, covered in
Ice, and can posse a very real threat to transportation and electrical systems.
Factors that cause this phenomenon to
happen: Ice storms are caused when the atmospheric conditions are just right.
There has to be a layer of cold air in the upper atmosphere, followed by a
layer of warm air further down, followed
by a layer of cold air at ground level. When it snows with these atmospheric
conditions present the snow falls so far and then melts as it passes through
the warm layer, it than falls to the ground or structures such as power lines,
and freezes on contact due to the colder layer near the ground. The atmospheric
conditions that cause ice storms to happen, involve warm low-pressure systems
converging with areas of stationary cold air, which causes this atmospheric mix
up that makes ice storms possible.
A tree has fallen over from the sheer
weight of the ice that built up on it from the Great Ice Storm of 1998, and
crushed a car.
Where it happened: The Great Ice Storm of
1998 occurred In the Canadian Provinces of Ontario, (only in the eastern part
of the province) Quebec,(the southern part of the province) New Brunswick, and
Nova Scotia, as well as in the American States of New York, Vermont, New
Hampshire, and Maine.
Map of the areas affected by the Great
Ice Storm of 1998.
Why it happened: This the Largest of Ice
storms to hit Canada, and likely the United States as well, was caused by a
rather unusual occurrence in the North American jet stream. A mass of cold air
had stopped over southern Ontario; this cold air was then bombarded by a mass
of moist warm air from the Gulf of Mexico. As the two air masses met the warm
air mass rose above the cold air mass, and when the moist air from the warm air
mass condensed and fell as rain, it passed through the cold air mass and froze
where ever it fell. Normally this would not be a problem but with the record
setting conditions that this ice storm brought with it, the Great Ice Storm of
1998 was unlike anything that had been seen before it.
The unique atmospheric requirements
for an ice storm
What Was the Impact: There were many
impacts to the 1998 ice storm, starting with the obvious, power outages, 4.7
million people without power in Canada and 500 000 without power in the United
States. To the less obvious, thousands, if not millions of trees were damaged
or killed by this ice storm; the maple industry was particularly hard hit.
Whole hectares of sugar maple trees were destroyed, and in many areas the
industry would have had to have re-started up from scratch. In Canada, an
electrical system which had been decades in the making, was destroyed by this 6
day storm. (The Great Ice Storm of 1998 stated on January 4th 1998 and ended on
January 10th 1998) In total 120 000 kilometers of telephone cables and power
lines, 30 000 wooden utility poles, and 130 transmission towers were destroyed.
As many as 300 power customers in Ontario and 45 000 in Quebec were still
without power by the end of the month of January. 45 people lost their lives as
a result of this storm, which does not sound like a lot at first but any person
lost is too many. In terms of financial cost, in Canada damage caused by the
Great Ice Storm of 1998 is estimated to be at $500 million, while the cost in
terms of interrupted business is somewhere in the billions. On a happier not
the 1998 ice storm has also shown us that there is still some humanity in the
world, as people who did still have their power or regained it quite quickly
let entire families of strangers into their homes so that they would have
somewhere to go. People shared what they had, and families became closer.
The Great Ice storm of 1998 caused an
electrical system which took decades to be set up was destroyed in a matter of
days.
How did the region recover: It was a very
difficult task to repair an electrical system that took decades to set up, in
the matter of weeks that it was fixed in. It would not have been possible
without the tireless work of so many individuals, starting with the Canadian
military. In this, the largest peacetime mobilization of the armed forces in
Canadian history, 16 000 people in the Canadian military came out to help clear
debris, ferry supplies, and transport people to the emergency shelters which
had been set up. Of course, the situation would have been hopeless without the
hard work of so many hydro repair people, not just from Ontario and Quebec, but
as far away as the Atlantic Provinces, Manitoba, and Several of the American
states. These hardworking folk set 10 000 new power poles, and strung 3000
kilometers of power line, in weather conditions which were far from suitable.
There were also other individuals and groups working tirelessly to repair the
Damage caused by the Great Ice Storm such as the church organizations, helping
people who had lost everything, or the fire fighter working round the clock to
keep people’s houses from going up in smoke.
The United States called in some of
its soldiers for the cleanup effort as well. This group, the 10th Mountain
Division’s 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry regiment is clearing branches and
fallen tree limbs in the village of Copenhagen New York State.
What is the region doing to predict and
prepare for future perils: Since the Great Ice Storm of 1998, the Canadian
people have come to realize better their dependence on electricity. Many have
also purchased generators, or even built fireplaces for future ice storms. (Or
blizzards, or anything that causes power outages really) What the Great Ice
Storm of 1998 has really done however is to remind Canadians that we are not
quite as invincible as we think, we must prepare for these storms before they
hit so that when they do we can hunker down nice and cozy by a pleasant fire
with a good book.
Since the Great Ice storm of 1998 many
people have installed wood stoves in their homes.
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